The Eric Carle Museum

In early August several colleagues and I took a road trip to Amherst, Massachusetts, to visit the one and only Eric Carle Museum, and what a delightful visit that was! It was truly a feast for the eyes!

http://www.carlemuseum.org/

http://www.carlemuseum.org/Visit/Our_Facility/

As quoted from their website: "Founded in part by Eric Carle, the renowned author and illustrator of more than 70 books, including the 1969 classic The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art is the first full-scale museum in this country devoted to national and international picture book art, conceived and built with the aim of celebrating the art that we are first exposed to as children. Through the exploration of images that are familiar and beloved, it is the Museum’s goal to provide an enriching, dynamic, and supportive context for the development of literacy and to foster in visitors of all ages and backgrounds the confidence to appreciate and enjoy art of every kind."

Of course the Eric Carle Museum has an official Volkswagen Beetle!  What else could it logically be?

The Museum was founded in 2002 by Eric and Barbara Carle.  Not only are there three art galleries, but a wonderful, light-filled art studio for children, a picture book library, theater, cafeteria and book store.  

Ground-breaking ceremony

Model of the Museum

Huge canvases of Eric Carle's paintings line the main hallway.

 The bathrooms are no less impressive!  Notice the decorative tiles on the bathroom walls?

Look closer!





Recognize these animals?

I see a blue horse looking at me...

Okay, is this Gerald of Mo Willems' Elephant and Piggie series?

Pigeon and I have a lot in common!

Incidentally, there is an exhibit of Mo Willems' work at the Carle. Titled "Seriously Silly: A Decade of Art and Whimsy by Mo Willems," it runs from June 22, 2013 - February 23, 2014. 

      In addition to all the wonderful pieces of Willems' original art on display are a few of his spreadsheets that he creates to keep track of the many processes his books go through before completion.  Each book has its own chart which, by the end, has become a busy mosaic of colored-in squares giving testimony to the many stages involved in producing each of his books! I had never seen anything like it, giving me a fresh appreciation for all the work that goes into creating a picture book.

 It's truly amazing to think this picture book was first published in 1969.  It is timeless, yet is now 44 years old.









Living in Vermont puts us in close proximity to this incredible kid-friendly museum.  It is well worth the visit.

The Day We've Been Waiting For ...

We had read many of April Pulley Sayre's 60+ books and the day we have waited for, the day of her visit to our school, finally arrived!  We were ready for her!

In preparation for April's visit, all the children in the school signed their names to four paper sea turtles which were used to welcome our special guest and lead her to the Learning Center.

Her visit was amazing!  She enthralled the children with her stories, sharing fascinating information about the many animals she has studied around the world. 

And April proved to us how much she loves words by getting us chanting with her.  "Billbug, Bed Bug, Bark Beetle, Bee. Painted Lady Butterfly. Flea, Flea, Flea!" Check out April's chant books, such as Ant, Ant, Ant! (An Insect Chant), or Trout, Trout, Trout!: A Fish Chant, or Go, Go, Grapes! A Fruit Chant.  They are tons of fun to read out loud!  She can find fun rhymes and rhythms everywhere.

The children learned how slowly sloths move by doing the motions with April, and listened to recordings of howler monkeys from her visits to Central America.

They lapped up her wisdom about believing in yourself, and keeping on trying even when other kids seem better at something than you are.

April Pulley Sayre, author, with Grace Greene, Youth Services Consultant with the Vermont Department of Libraries.  Two amazing and talented women!

April with a couple of fans.

Carol and April, their birthdays one day apart!

April talks with some eager 
 aspiring authors after her presentation. 




 
 Thank you, April, for coming all the way from Indiana to visit our school!

Visit April Pulley Sayre at http://www.aprilsayre.com/ 
to read more about this wonderful author and all the books she has published.  The Essex Elementary School Library has many of her titles available to borrow.  Touch a Butterfly: Wildlife Gardening with Kids was just published in April of 2013, and later this year follow Let's Go Nuts! Seeds We Eat, and Eat Like a Bear!
 

Every year on September 15, innovative educators around the world celebrate International Dot Day by making time to encourage their students’ creativity.

Our students celebrated International Dot Day by making their own marks.  Each student's creation hangs in the Learning Center, more than 400 unique dots!  They were admired tonight by the many families that visited the library during our school's Open House.  

EES Dots on PhotoPeach

Welcome Back From All Your Friends!

I have to admit it - I have always loved stuffed animals.  Even now, if I see a really adorable stuffie I might stop to check it out.  It's usually the expression that's the clincher, but sometimes it's the color or the material.   Normally I can resist, except if it happens to be book related.  If the stuffed figure is a book character, I simply can't help myself.  Resistance is futile at that point.

I have been a librarian for many years, so it should be no surprise that I have quite a sizable collection by now.  A favorite thing I love to do at this time of year is to set them all on display in our huge case to welcome back the 400+ children that will stream through those doors in less than a week.  This display is so much fun!  Children and parents love it, spending a long time checking it out.  They recognize many but also discover a few stories they aren't familiar with.  It's a visual literacy of the soft kind!

Here are pictures from last year.  The challenge this year will be how to squeeze in a few more characters.  A trip to Livres Babar on Greene Avenue in Montreal this summer yielded a large Gruffalo (Julia Donaldson) and a small Wodney Wat (Helen Lester).  I will start work on it tomorrow.  I can't wait to get out all those old friends.  Bring on the stuffies!

Please don't let the pigeon drive that bus!

QR Codes and Authors' Websites

First and second graders use the ipads to explore how QR codes work.  Various QR codes were randomly placed around the Learning Center.  

Each code led to a website, most of which were popular authors' websites as well as the library's homepage and this blog. 

Students worked in teams of two and took turns scanning the codes with the app Qrafter, and were able to explore the websites.  Mary Pope Osborne of the Magic Tree House has a terrific website for children. 

Other authors' websites in this scavenger hunt were those of Daniel Kirk, author of the Library Mouse series; Ron Roy of the A to Z Mysteries; Victoria Kann of Pinkalicious fame; Charlie and Lola's author Lauren Child, Captain Underpants creator Dav Pilkey, Tedd Arnold aka Fly Guy, Mo Willems, John Scieszka, and the popular Franny K. Stein, to name a few.

I was very proud of how careful they all were, and how well they worked together!